Roland Lee Article in St. George Magazine

Brian Passey did a nice article for St. George Magazine which spotlighted some of my historical pioneer paintings. The article appeared in the current July 2007 issue and included eight of my paintings. "Watercolor West" watercolor society also mentioned some of my recent awards in their member newsletter this month.

Fire and Rain in Zion - Cabin Meanderings

We've been able to spend some time at our cabin in East Zion over the past two weeks. The weather was magnificent, with huge thunderstorms and much cooler air. There is nothing like being up in the Ponderosa Pines when the wind is whistling through the branches and raindrops are glistening on the pine needles. The downside is lightning fires which have played havoc with Zion National Park and Utah all summer. I hiked up on the Observation Point Trail which you can hike to easily from our cabin and was amazed at the damage from recent fires near Orderville Gulch and Mystery Canyon. I pray that we never get a strike near our cabin. I did this little sketch of some of our nice Ponderosas surrounding the cabin.

"River Glow" Watercolor Painting of Zion Canyon

I am fascinated by the effect of water moving through the deep canyons of southern Utah. For the past week I have worked on this painting of a little spot along the Virgin River in Zion National Park. I love how the warm reds and yellows of the cliffs and trees reflect in the cool green water. The steady work of this peaceful river has carved an immense canyon over eons of time, and tumbled countless boulders into smooth stones as they rolled their way down from the high mountains.

Even though I first do a fairly careful drawing in pencil, I don't pay much attention to the edges at this point. Here I am just laying in glazes to establish the overall value pattern of the painting.









Once again I use loose washes of wet-in-wet paint as an underglaze. After these are dry I will lay in some darker glazes on top, defining the hard edges of the tree trunks by using negative painting to preserve the light areas.

Roland Lee Paintings of Zion National Park Accepted in Paint the Parks Top 100 2007 Exhibit

I was excited to learn that two of my paintings of Zion National Park were accepted into Paint America's 2007 Top 100 Paint the Parks national competition. The exhibit will travel to museums throughout America during 2007 and 2008.

Top: "Five Minutes of Fame", a watercolor painting of Zion National Park was juried into the 2007 Paint the Parks Top 100 competition.

Left: "Zion in Winter", a small watercolor painting of Zion National Park was juried into the 2007 Mini 50 competition.

Purchase Award at Wasatch Plein Air Paradise Competition in Midway, Utah

At the awards ceremony for the 2007 Wasatch Plein Air Paradise competition I received a Merit award for this painting of "Zermatt Resort" which was also purchased by the Zermatt Resort for their permanent collection. We enjoyed our time in Midway Utah painting on location in that beautiful area, and will definitely return to participate next year as well. Kudos to the organizers and many volunteers who made it a great event.

This painting "Midway Farm" painted on location during the competition was purchased at the Wasatch Plein Air Paradise show by Tamara Barrett from New Jersey.

Watercolor Painting of Zion National Park

I actually started this painting a few weeks ago in my workshop, but because of our travels I was unable to finish it until today. The subject of this painting is the "Altar of Sacrifice" in Zion National Park. It was so named because of its flat top and the red stains running down its sides. I chose a late afternoon light which spotlighted its features, so I called it "Light on the Altar."

Tomorrow we're off to Lake Powell for the Holiday weekend with my kids and grandkids. I'll be taking my sketchbook, but with all the activity I doubt I'll get much time to sketch or paint. However, I'll get some great pictures of my grandkids!

Painting the Provo River at the Wasatch Plein Air Painting Competition

Probably my favorite part of the Wasatch Plein Air Paradise competition was just being able to be outdoors for several consecutive days with no interruptions. The Provo River winds its way through the valley and I spent quite a few peaceful hours sketching by the riverside. Early one morning I hiked upriver to a pastoral spot and plunked my chair in a shady bend. The rush of the water over the rocks lulled me into a quiet reverie as I began painting. within the hour a group of about 10 women and a couple of fishing guides began working in front of me, and I enjoyed the show as the guides tried to show the novices the art of fly fishing a river. It was comical, but I had to cheer as one of them actually caught a very nice Brown Trout. I might even come back to this spot with my fly fishing gear next time.



"Peaceful River" 6" x 9" watercolor painted en plein air along the Provo River near Midway, Utah. On display at the Midway Town Hall through July 4, 2007.

Wasatch Plein Air Paradise Painting Competition

I joined about 90 other artists for the 2007 Wasatch Plein Air Paradise Painting Competition in Midway, Utah this past week and enjoyed four glorious days painting outdoors. The competition rules allowed artists to paint anywhere in Wasatch County, Utah, which included Wasatch Mountain State Park, Heber City, Midway and the beautiful farmland in between. After having your canvas stamped and dated you have three days to complete up to four paintings. It was a lot of fun. I filled my sketchbook with drawings, took a lot of pictures for future reference while completing four paintings on location. The little 5" x 8" painting above, "Gone But Not Forgotten" was done on 600 North street in Midway.




Nellie and I parked our truck right in front of this little farm scene outside of Midway. I set up my lawn chair and went to work capturing this image in a couple of hours. The challenging thing about painting outdoors on location is dealing with the changing light. This is a late afternoon scene with the light hitting hard from the front -- and yes, the wildflowers and Daisies were actually there

Yours truly in front of the Midway Town Hall which served as the hub of all the activity. Artists would have their canvas stamped and dated and returned the finished paintings here, framed and ready to hang. It was quite a show. Note: These paintings are on display at the Midway Town Hall through July 4.

Sometimes Midway is called little Switzerland due to its location at the base of the towering mountains. In keeping with this theme many of the homes and hotels are steeped in Swiss chalet-style architecture. The Zermatt Resort in Midway looks like it came right out of the Swiss Alps. The resort offered the plein air artists a free night's lodging if they painted there, so I obliged them with this little 5" x 8" painting.

Collector Edward Harris Purchases Country Snowfall Painting

Edward Harris has been looking at my work on the internet for some time and purchased this painting "Country Snowfall" from my website while we were traveling last week. I painted it after a spring snowfall near Annabella, Utah, where my son lives. I loved the warmth of the sun falling on the fresh snow, in contrast to the rustic wood of the barn.

Travels on the Mormon Trail - Old Nauvoo & Carthage

I did this sketchbook drawing of the re-built blacksmith shop in old Nauvoo Illinois where my 4th great grandfather Orin Nelson Woodbury lived and worked. It was fun to visit the places where my pioneer ancestors lived in the 1840's.

We spent the last two days in Old Nauvoo. I had a chance to visit the location of my ancestors' property including the Francis Lee lot (photo above.) It is on the wagon ride route and his story is told as part of the tour.



Nellie and I in front of the Red brick Store where James Henry Rollins assisted Joseph Smith.The store was not named because of the color of the brick, but the red painted walls inside. I did this sketchbook drawing after the tour when I had a few minutes to study the structure. I plan on doing a painting of this building some time.



While visiting the old Seventies hall in Nauvoo I got in the spirit and pounded the pulpit a little. In the big room upstairs is a museum where they have journals listing many of the Nauvoo pioneers. They let visitors sign a register if they had pioneer ancestors there, which I did.




We visited Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was murdered. I sketched the old stone building with its yellow stone walls. Joseph fell from the upper window after being shot several times. I had a few minutes to do a little sketching after our tour and came up with this drawing. The big tree is very old, but not old enough to have been there when Joseph was.